Nathalie Du Pasquier “Speed Limit”

Anton Kern Gallery

[Image: Nathalie Du Pasquier "Koren" (2002) Oil on canvas, 28 3/4 x 24 1/8 in.]

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Anton Kern Gallery presents SPEED LIMIT, Nathalie Du Pasquier’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. As done previously in the third floor gallery, the artist now exercises her masterful understanding of color and space to transform the first and second floor galleries into a dynamic trail of intuitively sequenced paintings and drawings.

Across the two floors, Du Pasquier integrates representational paintings dated from 2002 - 2007 with purely abstract works dated from 2013 - present. The representational paintings are faithful depictions of objects bathed in the natural light of her studio. Each composition is based on a real life model that the artist carefully constructs on a tabletop. In the translation of the arranged objects to the painted surface, Du Pasquier isolates them from their inherent domestic context and focuses on rendering their geometric forms in space. The interplay of shadows and reflections, the active brushstrokes, the cropping and perspective animates the works. Household objects such as a domino or a rubber glove, become more open-ended, and extend an invitation toward abstraction.

The abstract paintings are arrangements of a different sort; they are varied combinations of colors and forms that have persisted in the artist’s repertoire over the years. Freed from the task of representing any real objects or lighting conditions in front of her, Du Pasquier spontaneously flexes her imagination and the cumulative knowledge of a lifetime of analyzing shapes.